1st HDBank Cup Open Chess Tournament

Four of the 11 Filipino participants have remained unscathed after two rounds of play in the ongoing 1st HDBank Cup Open Chess Tournament in Vietnam.

GM John Paul Gomez, GM Darwin Laylo, IM Oliver Dimakiling, and IM Richard Bitoon are tied with six others with 2.0 points to lead this explosive international event which drew 65 players from nine countries.

It would be a good venue for norm seekers since this event is being participated in by a 39 titled players, 13 of whom are GMs and 14, IMs. But the norms would not come easy as this field is swarmed by strong players from Vietnam (30 players), China (15 players), and of course from the Philippines (11 players).

It's still very early in January, but Vietnam has already put up this strong event which is bankrolled by HDBank. In contrast, however, I haven't seen yet the calendar of events of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) for 2011. Meron na ba?

Early leaders (total of 65 players):

Rank after Round 2

Rk.			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1		GM	Zhou Weiqi	CHN	2573	2,0	2,0	2,00	1	2	2	1,55	0,45	0	0,0
		GM	Gomez John Paul	PHI	2527	2,0	2,0	2,00	1	2	2	1,46	0,54	0	0,0
		GM	Laylo Darwin	PHI	2516	2,0	2,0	2,00	1	2	2	1,49	0,51	0	0,0
		IM	Dimakiling Oliver	PHI	2432	2,0	2,0	2,00	1	2	2	1,73	0,27	0	0,0
5		GM	Zhao Jun	CHN	2599	2,0	1,5	1,50	1	2	2	1,57	0,43	0	0,0
		IM	Bitoon Richard	PHI	2461	2,0	1,5	1,50	1	2	2	1,52	0,48	0	0,0
		WIM	Nguyen Thi Mai Hung	VIE	2266	2,0	1,5	1,50	1	2	2	0,46	1,54	0	0,0
8		GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2664	2,0	1,0	1,00	1	2	2	1,65	0,35	0	0,0
		FM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	VIE	2446	2,0	1,0	1,00	1	2	2	1,68	0,32	0	0,0
10		IM	Nguyen Thanh Son	VIE	2437	2,0	0,5	0,50	1	1	1	0,79	0,21	0	0,0

Complete list HERE

Here are some photos of the event courtesy of Mr. Gilbert Pascua who is now in Vietnam accompanying his son FM Haridas Pascua. (Thank you very much, sir Gilbert!!)

SIMPLY CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR ENLARGED VIEW